At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements ;)
I was reading a book by a favorite author the other day, a story that was lightly linked to other books she had written. It was a stand-alone, but it existed in the universe she had created in her other books. (The main character was familiar with the main characters of other novels.) And this got me thinking.
A lot of authors sort of create these little universes where all their characters reside. There's even a theory that all of Pixar's movies inhabit the same universe. So...
What if you ran into a favorite character from one of your favorite novels? And what if you then realized that you had fallen into the world where your favorite characters reside (or the world your favorite author keeps his/her stories)?
Well, my favorite character is Preston and Child's Agent Pendergast, and he has to deal with supernatural horrors, so I don't think I'd want to be there.
ReplyDeleteThere are a mass of "Goosebumps" by R.L. Stine. These appealed to 3rd-? and suddenly boys started reading. A movie w/Jack Black of the same title was pretty good. In it the characters that had been kept locked up escaped, etc. Being us, we went to see it with all the kids that age.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite place to find myself would be Ireland, Nora Robert's Ireland. A bit of romance and a bit Irish lore works well.
Yeah, I wouldn't want to live in a "Goosebumps" realm. But Nora Roberts... Yeah, that would work.
DeleteI'd never want to leave as long as it wasn't an oh crap I'm gonna die type environment hahaha
ReplyDeleteYeah, well, it all depends on what universe you find yourself in.
DeleteI'd love to spend an evening in a cocktail bar in Vegas with my favourite character - margaritas all round please! And my character is wealthy so she'll be buying if you want to come along :) And bring your friends, why not? :)
ReplyDeleteSince my favorite books are by Stephen King, I would be in very big trouble.
ReplyDeleteLOL with what J E Oneil said in their comment. Having liked Gone with the Wind in my teenage years, not sure I would want to be stuck in the south during the Civil War, but it could be educational perhaps.
ReplyDeletebetty
Tumultuous times. But if you found yourself taken back in time, you'd have other issues as well.
DeleteSome of my favorite authors write murder mysteries so I would be in the middle of a mystery! And hopefully not the one who is murdered!!
ReplyDeleteIn this case, you'd probably be an innocent bystander. Or a suspect.
DeleteLet's see, now (you know I am going to do this, right?) In the Martian (Barsoom) series of Edgar Rice Burroughs, book #6, The Master Mind of Mars, a fan ends up being transported to Mars and eventually meets his hero, John Carter, at the end. (He also wins the heart of his princess. I LOVE that series.) Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI doubt any of my what ifs are completely original. There are only so many plots out there.
DeleteIf I ended up I. hogwarts I would enjoy it but not sure if I would like the area of To Kill a Mockingbird...love the main character but the South just didn't seem all that great.
ReplyDeleteOf course, now we know there's a North American magic school in Massachusetts. Ilvermorny? I wouldn't have minded ending up there.
DeleteI wonder if we would have some reaction as we would have meeting a movie star, a leader of country, or famous athletic.
ReplyDeleteGee maybe one of animals in Charlotte Web was your favor. I like the spider.
Coffee is on
Ah, probably.
DeleteYou come up with interesting questions! If this happened, I'd probably try to wake up....
ReplyDeleteYeah, well...
DeleteI think that would be exciting to run into one of my favorite characters. One of my favorite novels is SHARK DIALOGUES which is set in Hawaii and Pono, the main character, is a goddess in my opinion. I can only imagine what it would be like to meet her!
ReplyDeleteThat would be interesting.
DeleteI would hope it would be a world I'd enjoy. But I don't think I'd want to be there for long. I have too much going on in the world I presently inhabit.
ReplyDeleteWhat if that world coexisted with this world? That is, you were still living your life but found it existed in that world.
DeleteI would definitely need a different set of clothes. ~grin~ That's a neat theory about Pixar movies.
ReplyDeleteI think I originally saw the Pixar theory on Facebook. Strange what people come up with.
DeleteI would think that's pretty cool. Especially if it's the Harry Potter world. I'd even deal with bad witches and wizards. Other book universes would be neat, too, but some that are more dangerous would be plain scary.
ReplyDeleteYes, it would depend on which universe you found yourself in.
DeleteI think it would be really awesome! I have too many favorites, but I would love to have tea at Bag End with Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam - maybe a few months before the birthday party. :)
ReplyDeleteThat would be fun.
DeleteIf that happened, I would probably get really excited about vampires existing then get really scared one was going to kill me.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't like a universe with real vampires, I don't think.
DeleteSince I mostly read contemporary realistic fiction, that wouldn't be too interesting! But I'm in total awe of people who can create entire worlds for their books.
ReplyDeleteBut that's more of where I was going with this question. What if you ran into some of those people? People you met in a good contemporary book.
DeleteSounds like Jasper Fforde, and I love him.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to look him up.
DeleteHmmm it would totally depend on the favorite series. lol Some I'd be all for it. Others...eeps! That would be...unfortunate for sure.
ReplyDelete